Greetings Members of Jedi Sanctuary,

I have recently been considering belief, Jediism, and many other things in life through the lends of validity, evidence, results, and truth. In other words i have been looking at what it is that we believe and making sure that it makes sense.

What do we believe? The first thing that we believe in is the force. ok ... how do we know that the force exists.

1) Personal Experiences. Most of us have had personal experiences with the force in our lives.

but ... that is not enough and that wouldn't stand up to scientific scrutiny.

2) Quantum Mechanics and String Theory. Science is quickly moving in the direction of the idea that all matter is made of energy. While this does not prove that this energy field would correspond to our force or that it would have the same characteristics that we attribute to it, it does hold out enough doubt to continue research.

The above is an abbreviated example of what i have been doing ... namely challenging assumptions. I think this is an important thing for everyone to do. I think that we must be sure that our philosophy and spirituality from which we base our life decisions is based in verifiable truth and not in delusion. This challenging of assumptions has many benefits in that it provides a more potent basis for effective action in the real world.

Thoughts?

If one cannot trust one's own senses, how can you trust the science done by others?

I think that personal experience is more important than objective proof when it comes to the Force. Science can try to explain it all it likes, but still the only way to really understand is to feel it for yourself.

read all the scientific research you want (there is no harm in that), but feeling the Force will always trump science. any Force user will always gain more knowledge of the Force through her relationship with it than science could ever identify, measure, and confirm.

there are four lines in the Force useful to the Force user, yet only two lines are being investigated by science: sensory and extra-sensory. the Force user, my master reminds, will continue to be a threat to scientists and mystics alike.

I find it interesting that although many claim force connection, that when i ask for concrete evidence of its effect on your lives that i rarely get any answers. This is what i mean by evidence. If a person were to ask me about the force, what i can do with it, and what science backs it i could tell them.

Oooh' I like this question!
(If this is way too long - I put an abstract concise statement at the bottom of this essay - so you may just skip to that and decide if this is worth reading ;-P)

It's really important to know why we believe what we do and why we follow what we follow. Many fads exist today that have become religions - diet (various - like vegan - including crazy dedication to 'green' produce, carbon footprint enthusiast, PETA, etc. People follow them devoutly without fully realizing it has become a religion. So, you know ask yourself - what is your true religion?

Why Jedi Appeals as a Religion

21st century morality. Instead of staring backward in time and trying to interpret the actions of someone from 2000 years ago (or older) - the Jedi way comes from what people generally agree on as RIGHT.

This idea of 'rightness' developed through popular media: books and movies. In our stories as a people, writers take us through many guises of similar morality tales. We don't have to live in every single situation to decide a moral truth, the path has already been taken by a million characters in a million stories. (source: Joseph Campbell)

The stories from our time like Star Wars do not conflict with major religions so it allows people on the Jedi path to update their internal value systems and develop a keener morality without forsaking religious/cultural traditions.

The Chivalry

I really think there has been in modern culture do to equality efforts a crumbling of 'what it is to be a man'. This could turn into its own essay so I'll skip some of the particulars.

I think a lot of young men don't want to be feminized in order to be 'good'. I think that many of the rights of passage and the heroes path that used to mark the path of maturity and strength have eroded. In my opinion Jedi are predominantly male because there exists in the world of Jedi (whether we properly address it or not) -- Chivalry.

The path of the Jedi basically the path of manhood. It's being strong enough to protect your female and your community. It develops discernment. Jedi know what to do in difficult situations to be protectors because they have a code of ethics that they adhere to with great self-discipline. Their morality, their word, and how they conduct themselves matter every single moment of everyday - hence they are truly Jedi Knights.

The inverse of this of course is the Sith - they have similar ethics and morality - HOWEVER - that morality code gets suspended when it suits their own self-interest. So maybe the Jedi Knight wouldn't sleep with the hot chick while he's temporarily assigned to Las Vegas for work - but the Sith just might.

In traditional religion a person can ask for forgiveness and just move on. The Jedi path really doesn't work that way - the buck stops with YOU. The Jedi is responsible for their own code of conduct. The Jedi here are constantly working on being better people - self improvement - and this is so they can follow their moral and ethical codes tighter and become better people and through their actions cause powerful positive change.

The Super Natural Elements - My Theory

Going on in nature as a kid - I could FEEL it. I could feel the mood of the land, the trees, the soft rustle of the grass, absolutely everything talked to me. I could feel when there was a disturbance. My Mom and Grandpa also had the family 'gift' for such things and its no wonder I hung out with them the most.

I was very sensitive as a child, crowds overwhelmed me. I would get a bad feeling about some things at times and have very clear gut feelings.

I had a penchant for religion and spirituality even at an early age. I was decidedly unhappy with the religious morality in the church which 'felt' wrong to me.

I wrote obsessively. I wrote at length stories I would make up, drawing pictures in the margins. I wrote my first book in sixth grade. I was always drawing and making stuff. In college I became a Pagan to get in tune with the supernatural. It never quite fit me right however.

So you're thinking -- wow Seven - so you were always in tune with the Force. NO. No, I am epileptic. To be specific I have temporal lobe epilepsy. And all of the fore mentioned experiences are in part symptomatic.

"People with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) often become obsessively religious. It could be because seizures strengthen neural connections between the inferior temporal cortex and the amygdala, the emotional arbiter of the brain, so that everything takes on special meaning." [url="http://www.doxa.ws/meta_crock/Supernature3.html"]FROM[/url]

Temporal lobe epileptics can believe they are psychically aware, they can spend a great deal of time at one task (particularly it seems writing/art.) Sometimes writing and re-writing the same thing over and over (like how I sometimes take two days to finish an e-mail).

A lot of people I worked with had noted my quirky behavior (especially the e-mail thing - "how many times are you going to delete that and start over?") I always had an uncanny knack to 'feel' design and art - so I'm pretty good with it over all.

It is actually estimated that to some degree or another temporal lobe epilepsy is fairly common. It may even be a human adaptation or some sort of evolution. Who knows maybe I really can feel the Force like I think I can - it certainly feels real to me.

I never had a doctor hit upon 'temporal lobe epilepsy' even when I brought in my two year old for having seizures. They diagnosed her as, "probably bi-polar" -- I asked the doctor -- HEY SHE IS TWO!! Bi-Polar doesn't even display symptomatic until the teen years right? Doctor said, 'well she'll probably have it really bad."

The doctors (those who aren't morons) dilemma is that people with TLE are often creative and even brilliant. Who are they to say that it's not some natural way the brain is being wired in some individuals to produce Shamans, storytellers and artists? These are vital to our culture and society - what kind of world would we have if no one had TLE?

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So to wrap up this rather long essay Jedi belief system stems from a need for modern 21st century morality that fits inline with our internal sense of rightness as departed upon us as children through media. It is very handy that it does not conflict with modern religion.

Jedi is a pathway to manhood and internal strength / self discipline that helps young men grow into strong men of the community by departing an ethical system that although flexible and adaptable to situations -- is a form of chilvary that is not suspended when its inconvenient.

The Supernatural side of the Jedi path appeals possibly to people with strengthened neural connections between the inferior temporal cortex and the amygdala, the emotional arbiter of the brain, so that everything takes on special meaning which lends itself to 'feeling' the Force. Additionally often these people know they are markedly different from those around them leading them to wonder, why do I have this special ability? What is this ability that I have?

i see your viewpoint completely, but i take an issue with part of your viewpoint. i take issue with that part of your viewpoint that suggests--suggests--jedi ought to scientifically justify themselves. jedi ought not feel the need to scientifically prove what sort of jedi or Force user they are, for it is the responsibility of the jedi to use the Force for the good of all life. such is sufficient and excellent proof of the Force. feeling the need of scientific justification somewhat reminds me of the time master yoda told young skywalker not to judge him by his size. perhaps i read too much into your suggestion, however, i find there is something covertly neurotic in a jedi who feels the need to scientifically prove the Force is with her.

Have none of you ever listened to anything I've ever said? Listen to yourselves, it is as if you have learned nothing in your respected quests. Lets get back to basics to answer this one and get where I am going with this, I assure you it's not a simple lashing of the tongue. Remember.

A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. The force surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock...everywhere! Even between the land and the ship.

These are the words of the wise master Yoda and they ring true still. Look at what Yoda says about the Force "It binds us, surrounds us. Luminous beings we are not the crude matter"

We are the Force!!! It is what makes up you, me, the tree the rock the land and the ship, it is what binds us all together. Knowing that, it goes back to what I have preached for a long time now. You are not going to manipulate some cosmic energy field, you are not going to open doors with your mind, and you are not going to leap tall buildings in a single bound. The Force is in you, it is you, it is what makes you a living breathing individual. You are made of it, and it makes you. Therefore, it is only a matter of controlling yourself!!! The Force represents you and your choices, your actions, your feelings. You are the Jedi with the power to control the Force, i.e. your actions, your feelings. It is through understanding all these things like yourself, the rock, the land, and the ship, that you gain the wisdom to make the right choices and control yourself which is all made of the Force. That is what a master is, one who has mastered their self, and in turn the Force as it is what makes them. One who has sought after and gained understanding of their surroundings and in turn makes decisions based on that knowledge and understanding rather than on raw emotion and passion, or being caught up in the moment. These answers are right in front of you Jedi. Don't look so hard you miss what is right there looking you in the eye.

The only proof you need to justify yourself are your actions in your daily life. I am a Sith and in that I live as one everyday. My interpretation of what it means to be a Sith may not have me trying to take over the galaxy, but it does drive me, and it does provide me with what I need to become stronger, and to get where I am going. As I live this life no matter the cost, so must you to show your evidence, and your proof. Don't talk about it, be about it! That is the only way you are going to prove anything. Science can not free you, science or mysticism can not make you any more Jedi than it makes me Sith. It is all about you at the end of the day, and what you did in your day, and how you spent it, what you accomplished, or didn't accomplish. What did you do today to further your understanding of your surroundings, your world you live in? What did you do today to serve your fellow man, and what will you do tomorrow? It is these actions and decisions that will make you Jedi. Science can only make you wonder.

This is a good quote Rage.

Thank You Seven. I believe it, and I also believe that as I noted in that post people make the whole thing too complicated. Life is very simple, if you let it be.

The answer to your question might be easier than you think. Picture the smallest particle that you can....Then picture what that looks like on the inside....And simply keep going deeper and deeper.

Once you've gone as far as you can go ask yourself, What enabled me to think of something in such detail that was possibly not real or at the most inaccurate?

Now try to prove to yourself with simple mathematics what you get when you take 1 billion away from 1. Now put that on a line chart in your mind. And notice how small the mind makes that line for you to understand it.

After you've done that put your right hand out and count your fingers. If you count five then take those five fingers and push them down onto a solid surface as hard as you can for about 20 seconds.

What you should have felt was a little something called the Force pushing you back. Now go back to the first thing that I told you to do and picture that solid surface in billions upon billions of those tiny particles that you first imagined, then go deeper into what makes those particles and just go as deeply as you can imagine.

Once you've done that ask yourself. Did I feel the Force of the solid surface or did I feel the Force of billions of particles that I imagined?

Now look at your hand and ask each finger if they felt the table or the imagined particles.

Finger one says, you felt the table. Finger two says you felt the particles. Finger three says, you felt the Force. Finger four says you felt your imagination. Finger five pauses and asks, what do you want to feel?

sorry 7 but rage's quote is dooooooofisssssssss.

self-mastery is complacency--Sith abhor complacency. Sith know self-mastery is an illusion. self-mastery is delusional for any Sith addicted to the self-deceiving forces of self-mastery (see anakin/obi-wan mustafar gambit). Sith know mastery of the situation (e.g., self, other, environment) is the proper route.

I have been waiting for someone to post this test here and im going to have to do it myself.

This is called many different names by different people, as we are in the Sanctuary i'm going to call this Force push.

First you need a friend.
Stand opposite each other facing each other. Just out of arms reach.
Relax, deep slow breathing like a meditating breathing.
Feel the all over tingle(as i call it) surrounding your body.
Raise your hand in front of you and feel the energy pass through your body and down your arm, and out of your hand, now push your friend back without moving or touching them. When you try this please tell me your results. Can you make them wobble or step back. If you can feel them resisting drop the energy and do they step forward?

Looking forward to your results

cool